Toad the Wet Sprocket is back

…for a little while at least.

Monday night, back together for their P.S. Reunion Tour, Toad the Wet Sprocket fulfilled the fantasies of their NYC fans by returning to Irving Plaza for a second sold out show in a row.

First opening act Wheat left the usually open-minded, music-loving Toad audience unimpressed with a bland, uninspired performance. A shame, because singer Scott Levesque has a great voice that is unique and subtle and sincere in its plaintiveness. Unfortunately, it was lost and muddled in songs, soft and mellow on the album, that ended up just plain slow and mild live. The one song that began to catch the crowd’s attention, "World United" sung by guitarist Ricky Brennan, stopped short before it became truly interesting, a typical trait of Wheat’s best songs. It seems Wheat may not be ready yet for mass consumption.

Conversely, Alice Peacock certainly strutted her stuff onstage with a full band, giving her songs a depth and liveliness that seems to be just what her album is missing. A departure from her light, poppy sounding ballads, live Alice Peacock with sweet, sex-laced vocals, rocked out soulfully. Accompanied by a highly skilled John Lennon look-alike guitarist, Alice Peacock (is that her real name??) and band turned out songs like “Bliss” and “Alabama Boy” that would make Vonda Shephard’s stiff, poker-faced smile twitch in jealousy. And it didn’t hurt that the top of her red lacy panties played hide and seek with her low-rider, form-fitting pants throughout the thirty-minute set. Nice touch.

The real attraction of the night didn’t take the stage until 11 PM, a full three hours after the doors opened, but there were no complaints as Toad launched into their urgent and self-loathing anthem “Whatever I Fear” to the great approval of a highly charged and unmistakably wide-awake crowd. But then again these are patient people, having waited five years to see their beloved band again.

Nearing midnight on a Monday, Toad’s main fan base, formerly earnest and mellow ‘90s college students, now all grown up earnest and mellow yuppies (many likely needing to be places by eight AM the following morning), couldn’t seem to get enough of the band. Even lead singer Glen Phillips seemed pleasantly surprised at the audience’s enthusiasm, remarking something to the effect of “not expecting the crowd at an add-on show to be quite like this” to hearty cheers and whistles and the occasional female shrieking a request for him to “take it off.”